SPORTSBIZ -- KEVIN KLEPS

The Cavaliers rumor mill is churning ahead of the NBA draft

It's the fastest way to rebuild in today's NBA: a bevy of draft picks, combined with ample salary-cap space.

The Cavs have four of the top 33 selections in Thursday's draft, and they should have about $25 million in cap space.

That's why almost every rumor you hear from now until Thursday night involving a team trying to dump a veteran's salary to free up cap room will involve the Cavs.

Last weekend, we had two doozies — rumors of the Cavs being in discussions to acquire Celtics small forward Paul Pierce and Mavericks forward Shawn Marion.

Both players fit what the Cavs are looking for — veterans who can help them make a playoff push, start at the “3” and come off the books following the season.

Pierce is entering the final year of his contract and is due to make $15.3 million in 2013-14.

The Celtics, however, can buy him out for $5 million before June 30, which reduces the 10-time All-Star's trade value, since every team knows Boston — with Doc Rivers leaving for the Clippers, and Kevin Garnett likely on his way out — is rebuilding and wants to shed Pierce's salary.

Marion has a player option for $9.3 million in 2013-14, and his team is also desperately trying to free up cap space — in the Mavs' case, it's to make a run at Dwight Howard and any other marquee free agent who doesn't re-sign with his current team (Chris Paul no longer appears to be an option for Dallas).

Len would be part of a young nucleus that includes Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson, Dion Waiters and Tyler Zeller.

Assuming the Cavs don't exercise a player option on Omri Casspi, but they bring back C.J. Miles and Wayne Ellington, they would have Anderson Varejao, Irving, Thompson, Waiters, Alonzo Gee, Miles, Ellington and Zeller under contract for a combined $33.4 million for 2013-14.

Trading for Pierce or Marion wouldn't hamstring the Cavs' hopes of landing a marquee free agent (maybe a certain reigning league MVP and two-time defending champion) in the summer of 2014, and it would help their stated desire of making the playoffs this season.

To accomplish the latter, Pierce is clearly a better option than Marion.

Both players are 35, but the former is a much better scorer and shooter, though the latter is a better defender and rebounder.

Pierce's best days are behind him, but he still averaged 18.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists last season. He shot 38% from 3-point range, and he's durable. Pierce played in 138 of Boston's 147 games the last two seasons (his total is 28 more than Irving's in that span), and he appeared in 80 contests in 2010-11.

Marion is also reliable — he's played in 210 of 230 contests the last three years — but the majority of his points are scored in the paint.

The rumored deal for Marion — the Cavs would get the small forward and the 13th overall pick in the draft in exchange for the 19th selection — might be more enticing than the proposed Pierce deal (the Celtic would be traded to the Cavs for the Nos. 31 and 33 selections on Thursday).

But Pierce would make the Cavs much more competitive, and after a three-year run in which the franchise has won a combined 64 games and had four top-four overall selections (counting this year's top choice), it's time for the team to win now.

Pierce has the added benefit of providing leadership for a locker room that certainly could use a jolt.

The trades for draft picks and cap space have put the Cavs in position to pounce, and they can do so without jeopardizing their chances of striking again in the summer of 2014.

It's time for Chris Grant and company to cash in a couple chips.

Speaking of cashing in

The NBA's new ad spaces won't come close to paying Pierce's 2013-14 salary, but the Cavs could command seven figures per year in a contract in which an advertiser would purchase the spots in front of the team benches and atop the backboards.

We first reported on the subject in a blog on June 17, and expanded on the ad possibilities in Monday's print edition.

The new ad spaces will take effect in 2013-14, and the spots are designed to attract attention for potential buyers who watch the games on television.

In the Cavs' case, that could be a pretty lucrative option, since the team, according to an industry source, ranked seventh in the league in local television viewership last season. An average of 43,000 households tuned in to Fox Sports Ohio nightly to watch a 24-58 team.

That number should only increase as the Cavs stockpile high draft picks and, hopefully, a quality veteran or two.

You can follow me on Twitter for sports information, analysis and more scenarios in which the Cavs start anyone but Alonzo Gee at small forward in 2013-14.

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